Page 8 of A Taste For Trouble
Joe shook out his shoulders in anger.
“I’ll leave now, but I’ll be back, babe. You can’t dump me without giving me one chance to change your mind. I’ll be back.”
The mean look on his face told me the moron wasn’t going to give up so easily. And I didn’t want him coming back when I wasn’t around to protect Rose. Before I could think it through, I pulled her closer and put my arm around her waist. She froze in place, and Joe’s eyes went wide with shock.
“No, you won’t. Because, like she said, there’s nothing to talk about. She’s with me now,” I growled.
Trevor let out a little yelp of surprise that turned into a cough when I glared at him.
“He’s right. Their love was meant to be,” he said hastily.
Joe cursed under his breath, and I could sense that Rose was about to say something she shouldn’t. I gave her a little squeeze, and her breath hitched. When I turned to look at her, she was staring at me in horror. As I gazed into her eyes, her pupils dilated, and her tongue snuck out to moisten her upper lip.
I tracked its movements with my eyes, and before I knew it, my head was dipping towards hers. Her breath was coming in short, shallow bursts, and her lids drooped as I got closer. I nuzzled the side of her face gently, and she let out a little squeak, but before I could claim her lips with mine, Joe muttered a loud expletive.
“I always thought you were frigid. Should have known better,” he said bitterly. “You were just holding out forhisbillions.”
I took one quick step in his direction, and he paled.
“Scram,” I said softly, and he didn’t need to be told twice. With one last venomous look at Rose, Joe Cheney fled the scene like I’d set his hair on fire.
Rose slumped against me for a few seconds, and just as I was about to put my other arm around her, she straightened up and pushed her hair behind her ears with shaking hands.
“Well, that was awkward,” she said, with a bite to her tone.
“You sound…upset,” I hazarded a guess.
“Of course, I’m upset! You didn’t have to lie to him like that,” she cried.
“You might not have noticed, but I was helping you out,” I said, and she looked furious enough to make me take a hasty step back.
“Yes, well…I doubt it worked. All of Maplewood knows you’re dating your supermodel,” she snapped.
That darn article! I was this close to buying out The Whisper and shutting it down for good, I thought viciously.
“Didn’t I tell you to speak to the editor and demand a retraction?” I asked Trevor, who was examining his nails with interest.
“Sure, you did, gorgeous. I even went over to their office in Carlton Square to demand an apology on your behalf,” he replied. “But Miss Wendy, who owns the newspaper, sent me off with a flea in my ear. And a plate of her famous gingersnap cookies.”
I pressed the bridge of my nose, wondering -not for the first time- why I’d chosen to spend the rest of my life in a stereotypical small town where everybody knew everybody. Wendy Sutton was the English teacher at Maplewood High until she retired last year and started her own newspaper. And the woman was a menace, if there was ever one. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much anyone could do to stop her.
“Maybe you should try and talk to her directly,” suggested Trevor. “Isn’t she one of your grandmother’s cronies?”
“Yes, and that’s exactly why I cannot say anything to her. If you think she didn’t have my gran’s blessing before she ran that asinine piece of gossip, you’re not as smart as you like to think,” I said, with a snort.
“Whatever do you mean?” he asked, batting his long, fake eyelashes in my direction.
“Umm, can the two of you go flirt somewhere else? I have an oven to clean,” Rose broke in grumpily.
“No, you don’t. Trevor can send a cleaning service to have your cottage cleaned from top to bottom. Meanwhile, you’re coming home with me,” I announced, and she stared at me in disbelief.
Damn it! I wasn’t supposed to blurt it out so bluntly. I was going to explain the situation reasonably and politely. But one look at her and all reason flew out of the window, leaving me growling and snarling like an animal. I swear, I was normally way more suave than this.
Whatever she saw in my face must have alarmed her because she took a step back. And that was all I needed.
I stalked towards her, each of my steps driving her back until I was in the house. Trevor followed me in. I ignored Rose’s protests and turned to study her.
She was short, her head barely clearing my shoulder. And she was curvy. All tits and ass. With her thick hair hanging down her back in a riot of strawberry blonde curls. She met my gaze defiantly and stood up taller.
